ITT: We are all Pokémon Trainers

Hearthome City

Lucius looks up from his notebook to see Blitz tangled in a heap on the ground.

Lucius: Oh hey Blitz! Long time no see.

He smirks at Ammon.

Lucius: You haven't been taking lessons from Maul, have you?

Bishop: <Evidently not, or poor Blitz would have landed in that bramble patch over there.>

edited 26th May '16 4:19:36 PM by Herbert40k

-Seemingly far away-

That was when we had to stop Cyrus when he escaped the Distortion World and ended up making a new universe upon using a Shadowed Celebi to turn Dialga Primal. So to keep a long story short Tracer, Luke, myself, and our mons ended up visiting Sevault Canyon because we'd received a tip that the Gym Leaders of Kanjoh, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova who'd been replaced by Zoroark had been stuck there the whole time.

Turned out that the Sevault Cubone tribe was keeping them prisoner because they were getting payed in TMs and stuff by some Zor. So after making some deals we ended up finding the Zoroark and his cronies who were about to press-gang these Larvitar kids into...

-Face briefly shifts to pure disgust-

If we didn't need them alive we'd have killed them, or let the mother Tyranitar do it, there's few things worse than people who prey on children. But then we soon learned of what had been happening while we'd been distracted...

-Ammon lets Blitz back to his feet, and chuckles at Lucius' comment-

Blitz: "Yeah, yeah, very funny..."

-Beat-

-It takes Blitz a few moments to recognize Lucius in his current state, and remember if he'd seen him since he died or not-

"Oh, hey. Lucius? Haven't seen you in forever, thought you retired or something... You look half re-dead"

Hearthome City

Lucius shrugs.

Lucius: Well, technically I am retired. There's a new Avenger running around and everything. Or at least, there was last time I checked. As you can probably tell, I haven't had much chance to keep up with current affairs over the last few months.

Hearthome City

Samson and Aegir are walking around the city, the former occasionally putting his binoculars on and taking them off for no particular reason other than just boredom

"Not much to do here huh, maybe we should try seeing if there's anything cool outside," he said.

"<I guess there's also that weird park,>" said Aegir, shrugging

"The Pokémon Contest was pretty fun though, people get really creative with those," said Samson

Route 209

Jacob: -He sits and listens for a while- "... That couldn't have been easy. I have a lot of questions but... Well... what happened once you learned about what went on?"

Blitz: "True, I meant retired from the J-team though. And yeah, the Avenger is still out there somewhere... No clue /Where/ though, not for lack of trying."

Ammon: -To Blitz- <I guess that means they're doing better than you at keeping up the secret identity>

Blitz: "That was /one/ time, Ammon..."

-They may or may not be near Samson enough to be noticed-

edited 26th May '16 4:42:30 PM by BlitzTrain

-To Jacob-

Before I continue, what do you know about... crucifixion?

Route 209

-Jacob pales and his face hardens-

".... Old execution method. Strapping the offender up to a post or cross and letting them asphyxiate. ... Please don't tell me this is going where I think it is."

Hearthome City

Lucius: I haven't really been a part of the team for ages. I just kinda... show up now and again, I guess. And hey, you're doing a better job than I did.

He smiles, though there's an edge to it.

You see, that Zoroark was recruiting children for the likes of a Samurott named Lanius. I believe his name translates into The Butcher, and that's exactly what he was.

Anyway, he was fucking huge, reared up he had to be seven to eight feet at least, and utterly merciless. If he didn't kill you outright with his absurdly strong resistances to Grass and Electric attacks, he'd have his mons strap you on a cross until you died. Once we got word his forces had invaded Kanto, we had to act, lest he destroy all we loved.

Hearthome City

Samson does notice Blitz and Lucius, mostly the latter, and decides to approach him

"Heeey, you're that kid who's friend with that Sarah girl, right?" he asked as he made his way there, "I forgot your name, but what's up?"

Aegir merely waved hello

Hearthome City

Lucius arches an indignant eyebrow at Samson.

Lucius: Kid? You must be what, thirteen? Fourteen? Arceus, youngsters these days. No respect for their elders, I tell you. Anyway, to answer your question, I'm catching up on five months of lost time. Nothing too important.

Hearthome City

Samson looked a mix of confused and amused at the same time. "Wait, how old are you? I'm 15, you got pretty close there." He chuckled

"<There's no way this pipsqueak can be older than my trainer...>" said Aegir, mostly thinking aloud.

Route 209

Jacob: -He's quiet again for a long moment- "... Well, shit. That's a lot of tension. How'd you stop him?"

Hearthome City

A vein twitches in Lucius's forehead.

Lucius: This "pipsqueak" is EIGHTEEN, thank you very much, and about to KICK YOUR ASS IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT IT!

He starts to stand up, only to be hit with a wave of light-headedness that forces him to sit down again.

Bishop: <Try to stay calm. In your condition, getting agitated could be dangerous.>

Lucius: Tell me something I don't know...

edited 26th May '16 5:26:27 PM by Herbert40k

Hearthome City

Samson blinks at the sudden outburst. "Dude, I only asked you your age, I didn't even mention your height. What was all that for?"

Meanwhile Aegir was just incredibly confused. "<Did he just...>"

Hearthome City

Lucius glances down at Aegir.

Lucius: ...Your Greninja's got quite a mouth on him.

edited 26th May '16 5:35:42 PM by Herbert40k

-Eyes far away-

The Battle of Celadon was one of the most vicious conflicts I've ever been involved in. Moreso than Ransei, moreso than Orre. Close quarters fighting, it was kill or be killed Jacob, and we did plenty of the former lest the latter happen to us. More than 60,000 humans and likely many more Pokémon perished over the course of the fighting.

-Before shifting back to a quite frightening laser focus-

One of the last things we did before fighting Lanius was take back the Celadon Pokémon Center. from his forces. It was bloody combat, but we managed to take it back. Then, we had to deal with the bodies, both their dead... and the original defender. We took everyone's bodies off those crosses, took whatever identification we could find off their bodies, and then cremated the corpses.

It was terrible Jacob, he'd even had children on those things.

Hearthome City

"Wait what? You understood what he was saying?" asked Samson, his eyes widening

"<That's... new.>" said Aegir

Route 205

Jacob: -His mouth hangs agape for a moment, before he swallows back whatever bile was building- "I..."

-He shakes his head- "I don't think I will ever be able understand that level of horror. Desperation. Disgust. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand. It... weighs on you. Probably on everyone who was involved."

-He hesitates for a moment and reaches out and lays a hand on Tagg's shoulder- "I know you don't want nor need pity but... that... that hell. I'm glad you made it out in one piece. That you won. That you kept moving forward and gave the survivors a future to look forward to. That's all you can really do, I suppose. You can't bring the dead back... ... Well, usually. And you can't change the past. So you keep moving forward. But... well... I'm surprised. That you can bear that and all the other paltry petty things this group has to deal with. If you ever need to talk or just... help? You're the last person to need it but... I suppose I'm here to lighten the load if you ever need."

Eterna City

EJ woke up with a loud grunt, sending Wingtip flapping gently, though he didn't achieve takeoff. EJ stared for a minute, taking in the sight of his returned pokemon, before gasping in shock and hugging the Fattest Pidgey tightly- eliciting a line of tempermental squawks from the perturbed Wingtip.

"Oh, buddy... please, stop running off on me. This isn't Kalos, apparently- you could really get lost." Wingtip stared up at his trainer with glassy eyes, giving no impression of understanding. EJ sighed and returned him to his pokeball, before looking around. "A hospital..." he murmured as his eyes strayed to his hand, now in a partial cast thanks to the busted finger. Dreading the bill, he begins packing his things up near-silently, pulling everything together and sneaking out.

Hearthome City

Lucius nods at Samson.

Lucius: -deadpan- Yup. Oh, and I'm also an undead ghost superhero with a mad scientist for a father and a sword from six hundred years in the past. It's complicated.

He gets up and yawns.

Lucius: Anyway, I'm bushed. I'm gonna head back to my hotel room and lie down for a while. See you around, maybe.

He walks off, Bishop sweatdrops and glances at Aegir.

Bishop: <My apologies. My trainer can sometimes be difficult when meeting new people.>

He buzzes off after Lucius.

edited 26th May '16 5:45:35 PM by Herbert40k

Hearthome City

"<I could tell,>" said Aegir, shrugging

Samson tilts his head slightly, but once Lucius leaves he shrugs and lets out a chuckle. "Well, this doesn't normally happen when I'm meeting new people."

Velvet Room

Igor: Indeed. Though that seems to be the case whenever someone is on vacation.

Dune: Well, it is a single room.

Galvani: <Oooooh... I know I should have eaten before coming. Now I'm kinda hungry, and I bet I'm gonna stay that way the whole time we're here.>